Among our Christmas presents this week, we received the movie Elf and a wedge of Vincent cheese from a dear friend. This woman knows how I roll. With the Vincent cheese, tonight we paired French Morbier, which I purchased from a gourmet deli in Anchorage.
My husband enjoyed the Morbier best this evening. I had been told that it worked well in a ham sandwich, which is right down his alley. This man is a ham sandwich connoisseur. So I brought out our freshest French bread, high quality ham, and alittle mustard. On our first mini-sandwich, we agreed the mustard was overwhelming. But I found the Morbier too subtle, even without the mustard. My husband disagreed; he felt that the cheese really complimented the flavor of the ham. He also loved the creaminess of the room temperature cheese, along with the soft texture of the bread.
Traditionally, Morbier was made in two layers from the morning and the evening milkings, separated by a thin layer of ash. The story goes that this was the cheese the cheesemaker saved for himself. Today’s Morbier still has a layer of vegetable ash through the center. The cheese is very creamy and mild, with a milky finish. The rind was leathery and neither of us were a big fan. We mostly cut it off and fed it to the dog.
As I said, I found the cheese too mild to be particularly notable. But I did stumble upon an odd pairing. After trying Morbier with the mini ham sandwiches, crackers, apple, etc., I then tried it with a whole wheat cracker. These crackers are sweet and dense – not my favorite with cheese. But, with Morbier, the cracker tasted exactly like a graham cracker! Granted the texture of the cracker and cheese was not at all graham cracker like. But it no longer tasted like a whole wheat cracker and cheese; it tasted just like a graham cracker. Go figure.
The Vincent was my favorite of the evening. The cheese is fairly new, apparently, and named for the Dutch master Vincent van Gogh. When I tasted it, I was reminded of another cheese but couldn’t quite put my finger on it. My husband nailed it, though. He said it reminded him of Gouda and, apparently, it is made in the Gouda style (also from Holland). Vincent is sweet with slightly tangy finish, which I really enjoyed. I think it would be wonderful grated on salads. I’d also be curious as to whether it would be good in a fondue. That reminds me, we still need to make a fondue. Maybe next week?
Morbier: France, cows milk, semi soft
Vincent: Holland, cows milk, semi hard
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